antechamber
/ˈæn.tiˌt͡ʃeɪm.bɚ/noun
antechamber is a noun meaning “A small room used as an entryway or reception area to a larger room” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled A-N-T-E-C-H-A-M-B-E-R and has 4 syllables, and it appears about once in every 7 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of antechamber is antechambers.
What does antechamber mean?
noun
- 1
A small room used as an entryway or reception area to a larger room.
- 2
The space immediately below the guard cells of a stoma.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce antechamber?
- UK /ˈæn.tiˌt͡ʃeɪm.bə/
- UK /ˈæn.tɪˌt͡ʃeɪm.bə/
- US /ˈæn.tiˌt͡ʃeɪm.bɚ/
Antechamber has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-antechamber.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of antechamber
- antechambers plural
- antichamber
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is antechamber?
Antechamber appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 78,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with antechamber
Also written: ante chamber (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Antechamber in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small room:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | antichambre |
| German | Vorraum, Vorzimmer, Vorkammer |
| Portuguese | antecâmara |
| Spanish | antecámara, antesala, recibimiento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does antechamber come from?
From Middle French antichambre, with remodelling after ante- and chamber. By surface analysis, ante- + chamber.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).